Automatic self-releasing curtain-hook.



J. B. RUDOLPH. AUTOMATIC SELF RELEASING CURTAIN HOOK.

APPLICATION FILED 11.6, 1912.

1,049,770. Patented Jan. 7, 1913.

WIT/V58 INVENTOR John 8 Ruda l h ATTORNEYS JOHN B. RUDOLPH, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

AUTOMATIC SELF-RELEASING CURTAIN-HOOK.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed April 6, 1912.

Patented Jan. 7, 1913. Serial No. 688,930.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. RUDOLPH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Automatic SelfReleasing Curtain-Hook, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

y invention relates to a self-releasing hook particularly adapted for holding curtains.

The means at present in use for fastening the curtains connecting the bellows of adjacent railway cars, are defective for the reason that'if the cars become uncoupled, unless care is taken to disconnect the curtains, the parting of the cars will tear the curtain or rip the same from their fastenings.

An object of my invention is to provide a fastening or hook adapted to engage the binding rod at the free edge of the curtain, to firmly hold'the same under normal conditions, but which will automatically permit the release of the curtain when a strong pull is exerted on the latter.

A further object of my invention is to provide a hook into which the edge rod of the curtain may readily be inserted.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the above identified character in which the several parts may be locked to change the same from an automatically releasing hook to a locked hook.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the above identified character simple in construction, easily operated and of relatively few parts.

I attain the above outlined objects by constructing a cylinder containing a springcontrolled sliding bolt, one end of which contains the locking device, the opposite end of which has pivoted thereto a pair of piw oted jaws, said jaws when projected from the casing against the action of the spring,

adapted to be separated from each other to receive the edge rod of a curtain.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures, and in which- Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view taken through a preferred embodiment of my invention, on the irregular line l1 of Fig. 3, and showing the engagement of thecdge rod of a curtain; Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. l, but showing the bolt and aws 1n protracted position releasing the curta n rod; Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in vertical section, on the irregular line 33 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the device.

Described more in detail, my invention comprlses a casing A suitably aflixed to a support B by means of an L-shaped bracket C, preferably constructed integral with the casing A. The casing is preferably in the form of a hollow parallelepiped having slightly greater height than width and being open at both ends, the front opening 5 being circular in plan, the rearof the casing outlining the opening 6 having its vertical edges recessed as shown at 7, constituting part of the locking means hereinafter described.

Suitably mounted within the casingA is a bolt 8, preferably of a, cylindrical form, the rear end of which terminates in a rectangular head 9 of the configuration of the inner bore of the casing, so as to prevent rotation of the bolt. The bolt 8 is of two parts, the forward portion consisting of two arms 10 and 11, each arm comprising a pair of transversely spaced-apart plates 12, 12, pivoted to each other and to the tongue 13' projecting forwardly from the cylindrical portion of the bolt 8, by means of a pivoting pin 14. The front portion of the bolt, that is, the portion including the arms 10 and 11 projects through and conforms in configuration to the front opening 5. Each of the arms 10 and 11 terminates in one of a pair of coacting jaws 15, each of which jaws has a rear shoulder portion 16 adapted to contact with the face 17 of the casing in order to maintain the jaws in closed position, as shown in Fig. 1. The are resilicntly held in this position by means of an extension spring 18 surrounding the bolt 8 and having one end bearing on the head 9 and the opposite end bearing on the inner front of the casing about the opening 5. Each of the jaws 13 has on its coacting face 19, a recess 20, shown in the drawings to be substantially-somi-elliptical, so that the two recesses Q'Lqnact to form anelongatedbore adapted to receive the edge-rod 21 on the free edge of the curtain 22 to be held by this coupler.

hereinafter described, until the pivoting pin 14 is'outside of the casing, permitting the l .t-paration of the jaws 15, as shown in Fig 2. The rod 21 may then be inserted between the jaws and into the combined recesses 20, this action being facilitated by the inwardly beveled nose 2 of each of the jaws 15. On releasing the'bolt 8. the spring 18 acting on the head ft will withdraw said bolt into the casing A, closing the arms 10 and 11, and

contact with the face 17 of the casing. By this construction, it is seen that the curtain rod '21 is maintained in the bore formed by the recesses 20, but should an abnormal strain or pull be placed on the curtain 22, the tendency will be for the curtain to draw the bolt out of the casing A against the tension of the spring 18 until the bolt is in the position shown in Fig. 2. A further pull on the curtain will, of course, cause the jaws to separate permitting the escape of the curtain, so that it is only necessary to regulate the tension of the spring 18 to vary the pull necessary to release the curtain from the hook. The belt in this instance is actuated manually by means of a handle 24, which handle is suitably attached to the head 9 and extends through a slot 25, preferably in the bottom of the casing A.

In order to guide the bolt, to protect the casing and brace the handle against side strains, and, at the same time, to cover the slot 25, a plate 26 extends forwardly from and is preferably integral with the handle, said plate bearing upon the under side of the'casing and of a length to entirely cover the slot or opening 25 in all positions of the bolt.

In order to lock the bolt in the position shown in Figs. 1 and i"), there is positioned on the rear of the head 9, alocking plate 27 substantially the same size as the rear face of the head 9 and pivoted centrally thereto by means of a screw 28. It will be seen that with the locking plate in the position shown in Fig. at, no interruption is made to the movement of the bolt into the casing, but. should the plate be revolved on the pivoting screw 28 about ninety degrees, the projecting edge of the plate 27 will enter the recess 7 hereinbcforc described.

\Vhile this invention has been described with some detail in connection with a means for fastening a curtain in the coupling of railroad cars, it is of course to be understood that the device'is not limited to this specific art. but may be used in any locality where it is desirtd tocouple members together in a manner whereby tne uncoupling of the same is obtained under abnormal stress on either of the members.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent! 1. A book comprising a casing having an opening in one end thereof. a bolt slidably mounted in said casing. a head on the end of the bolt farthest from said opening to preventthe rotation of said bolt in the casing, an extension spring surrounding said bolt and bearing on said head and casing tending to maintain said bolt Within said casing, a pair of arms pivotally conneeted with the end of said bolt and prois stopped by the shoulder 16 coming in jecting through the opening and constituting part of said bolt, and a pair of coacting jaws external of the casing, each of said jaws forming the outer end of one of said arms.

2. A hook comprising a. casing having an opening in one end thereof, a bolt slidably mounted in said casing. a head on the end of tlu bolt farthest from said opening adapted to prevent the rotation of said bolt in the casing, an extension spring surrounding said bolt and bearing on said head and easing tending to maintain said bolt within said casing, a pair of arms pivotally connected with the end of said bolt and projecting through the opening and constitutingv part of said bolt, a pair of coacting jaws external of the casing, each of said jaws forming the outer end of one of said arms, and means carried by said head locking said bolt to the casing;

3. A device of the character described, eomprisinga casingopen at both ends, a bolt slidably mounted in said casing, jaws carried by one end of said bolt projecting through one of said open ends "of said cas-' ing, the opposite end of said bolt projecting through the opposite open end of the casing, and a pivotally mounted locking plate connected with the end of said bolt opposite said jaws, said locking plate being of such a shape as to fit i to said casing so as to slide back and forth therein when in one position and to span the bore of said casing when turned to another position whereby said bolt is loclted against movement.

4. In a device of the character described, a casing having a longitudinal bore therein, said bore extending entirely through the casing, said casing being formed with an overhanging or substantiallv annular flange at one end whereby a shoulder is provided at one end of the bore, a spring arranged on said shoulder, a bolt provided with a headfitting said bore arranged in said casing, said bolt being normally positioned with its head partially extending from said casing, and a pair of pivotally n'iouuted jaws connected with said bolt and extending from LllG ng. said jaws having Hluutlrlors, arranged thereon tor tilting the annular flange on the casing.

5. A hook, comprising a casing having a longitudinal slot in one side thereof, a bolt slidably mounted in said casing, said bolt having coacting jaws carried thereby, an actuating handle attached to the bolt projecting through said slot, and a bearing plate attached to the handle moving in a plane parallel to the line of movement of said bolt and engaging the outside of the casing adjacent the slot to cover the same.

6. A device of the character described, comprising a casing having a longitudinal slot in one side thereof, a bolt slidably mounted in said casing, a pair of pivotally mounted coacting jaws carried by the bolt, and an actuating handle attached to the bolt projecting through said slot providing manually operated means for reciprocating the bolt, and. means for preventing rotation of the bolt.

7.-A device of the character described, comprising a casing having an opening atone end, said opening being restricted by an annular shoulder projecting from the casing,

a spring arranged in said casing resting on said shoulder, a bolt arranged in the casing and fitting the end of said spring, said bolt being provided with a head substantially fitting the interior of said casing and resting against one end of said spring, said spring continually tending to hold said bolt in a predetermined position, a pair of pivotally mounted arms connected with said bolt and acting as a continuation thereof, said arms projecting through an opening defined by said shoulder, and a pair of jaws connected with said arms formed With shoulder portions acting against the shoulder of said casing for limiting the inward movement of the bolt under the action of said spring.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN B. RUDOLPH.

Witnesses:

W. S. OnToN, PHILIP I). ROLLHAUS. 

